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    Long Beach State falls to Cal Poly, ends season with 15th straight loss
    • March 9, 2025

    LONG BEACH — The Long Beach State men’s basketball team wrapped up a frustrating season with its 15th consecutive loss.

    Devin Askew scored 21 points in the first half to help LBSU stay competitive with Cal Poly, but an injury to the star point guard in the second half proved too much to overcome and Cal Poly pulled away for an 83-69 win on Saturday evening at the Walter Pyramid.

    Jarred Hyder (25 points), Owen Koonce (20) and Isaac Jessup (15 points) paced the hot-shooting Mustangs (14-18 overall, 8-12 Big West), who made 18 3-point shots and secured their spot in the eight-team field for next week’s Big West Tournament in Henderson, Nevada.

    TJ Wainwright added 17 points and five rebounds for Long Beach (7-25, 3-17), which tried to keep pace despite losing both members of its starting backcourt to injury. Derrick Michael Xzavierro finished with 11 points, eight rebounds, two steals and a career-high four blocked shots, and Austin Johnson finished with eight points and eight rebounds in the final game of his Division I career.

    Askew did his best to help Long Beach keep up during a high-scoring first half. Long Beach was already short-handed with just eight players in uniform, then a collision in the opening minutes knocked promising freshman guard Kam Martin out of the game.

    Cal Poly shot 11 for 22 from behind the arc in the first half, but Askew shot 7 for 11 from the field and 4 for 7 from 3-point range to keep Long Beach within six points at halftime (47-41).

    Just 30 seconds into the second half, Askew suffered an injury and was ruled out for the night, leaving LBSU with six players to finish out the game. Cal Poly immediately capitalized, turning its eight-point lead into a 15-point cushion with a 7-0 run and Long Beach State never recovered.

    Koonce shot 8 for 14 from the field (4 for 8 from 3-point range) for Cal Poly, which shot 29 for 62 overall (46.8%) and 18 for 38 from behind the arc and led by as much as 20 in the second half. Jessup scored all of his points from long range, going 5 for 13 from deep. Peter Bandelj added 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds, and Hyder added five rebounds.

    Long Beach, which didn’t win a game after its 84-73 victory at UC Davis on Jan. 11, shot 24 for 57 from the field (42.1%) and 9 for 29 from 3-point range.

    ​ Orange County Register 

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